PALANPUR -- Sadhvi Jayshree Giri, arrested on Thursday in a cheating case, is the prime accused in the 2008 murder of her spiritual guru and head of Mukteshwar Mahadev Math Sanjaygiri Maharaj in Banaskantha district, police said on Friday.
She was arrested on Thursday after police raided a house in Palanpur and recovered ₹1.25 crore in cash and 2.4 kg of gold. "During our raid in Palanpur, we have recovered ₹1.25 crore in cash, which was in ₹2,000 notes, and 24 gold bars, each of 100 grams. Sadhvi was also present at her house during the raid. We have arrested her in a case of cheating and seized the cash and 2.4 kg gold," the SP said.
According to police, Sadhvi might have duped several persons.
She was arrested in connection with a cheating complaint lodged against her by a local jeweller Pritesh Shah who alleged that she had taken ₹5 crore from him by promising to give him gold at a cheaper rate.
During the raid, police had also recovered several bottles of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) and beer.
"Apart from cheating, we have also booked her under various sections of Prohibition Act for possession of liquor," said Banaskantha SP Niraj Badgujar.
Sadhvi was on Friday remanded in three-day police custody by the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Palanpur district court P T Jadeja.
A senior officer said a complaint was lodged against Sadhvi at Vadgam police station in October 2008 in connection with Sanjaygiri's murder and that trial is underway in a local court.
"As per our information, she is the key accused in the murder case lodged against her in Vadgam taluka. She secured anticipatory bail in that case, which is still running in a local court," the officer said.
Sanjaygiri was killed and his body was burnt at the Math on the night of Diwali in October 2008.
The complaint was lodged by a devotee identified as Jayanti Prajapati.
"As per the FIR, Sadhvi and some of her close aides killed her guru Sanjaygiri to take control of Math. After my complaint, she went underground for almost 2.5 years and then acquired anticipatory bail from court. She still lives in Math. The trial in that case is still on," said Prajapati.
Meanwhile, Rajendrasinh Barad, a co-accused in the murder case, alleged Sadhvi had duped many others in the past.
"I am a co-accused in Sanjaygiri Maharaj murder case. I also went underground and acquired bail later. I then detached myself from Sadhvi who is no less than a mafia," claimed Barad.
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